September 2018 ~ What are you reading?

DiscussionsCrime, Thriller & Mystery

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September 2018 ~ What are you reading?

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1seitherin
Sep 1, 2018, 6:20 am

Finished Pretty Girls Dancing by Kylie Brant. Enjoyed the book.

Next up is The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin.

2rabbitprincess
Sep 1, 2018, 9:10 am

Up next in my bus reading is Beneath the Mountain, by Luca D'Andrea (translated by Howard Curtis).

3Molly3028
Modifié : Sep 4, 2018, 6:07 pm

Starting this library audiobook ~

Miss Julia Weathers the Storm: A Novel by Ann B. Ross
(North Carolina/beach vacation/senior citizen/cozy series/Miss Julia and her friends are a hoot)

ALSO: the Audiobooks group would appreciate your input!
http://www.librarything.com/groups/audiobooks

4gmathis
Sep 1, 2018, 11:28 am

Found a copy of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's co-written Sherlock spin-off, Mycroft Holmes at a Dollar Tree, of all places, so I wasn't expecting much but the. first couple of chapters have been entertainingly worth the dollar, whether the rest is or not!

5Molly3028
Modifié : Sep 8, 2018, 2:19 pm

Enjoying this library audiobook ~

The Other Woman: A Novel by Sandie Jones
(UK/power struggle/Emily, Adam, Adam's mother/narrated by a Brit)

UPDATE: a fave for the year

6rabbitprincess
Sep 3, 2018, 10:02 am

Just started Perfect Death, by Helen Fields. This is the third book in the DI Luc Callanach series, set in Edinburgh.

7seitherin
Sep 4, 2018, 8:45 am

8Dr_Flanders
Sep 4, 2018, 4:07 pm

Just finished Perfidia by James Ellroy. It was an okay read, but I didn't find it as enjoyable as his previous novels.

9jwrudn
Sep 4, 2018, 8:47 pm

Finished Innocent Monster, #6 in Reed Farrel Coleman's Moe Prager series. It is a good series that is getting better as it goes along. I am surprised it is not more popular. Tonight I will start Desolation Mountain by William Kent Kreuger, the latest in his Cork O'Connor series.

10ted74ca
Sep 7, 2018, 2:12 pm

Just finished Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz. Quite enjoyable.

11Raspberrymocha
Sep 8, 2018, 12:37 pm

Miss Kopp’s Midnight Confessions by Amy Stewart
#3 A Kopp’s Sisters Mystery
3 1/2 ⭐️

Constance Kopp is one of the first female deputy sheriffs in the US. This story is loosely based upon her duties. Constance lives with her sisters Fleurette and Norma on the family acreage. Norma takes care of the home and animals, Fleurette is a seamstress hoping to become a star on stage. Constance is working with her female inmates in the county jail, many of which are young women whose only fault is running away from home to find work in factories. They are charged with waywardness, which could land them in the reformatory, the lunatic asylum or even state prison. Constance is determined to not let that happen. Meanwhile Fleurette runs away from home with a vaudeville dance troupe, causing Norma to report Fleurette as wayward. Constance is faced with trying to maintain her job helping the female jail inmates as well as trying to keep track of her wayward Little sister. Fleurette finds that getting on stage is not as easy and glamorous as it seems. This story does not read as a mystery, but more as a “ day in the life” of single women in pre WWI America. I still enjoyed the book, as Stewart’s prose brings that world to life without a lot of superfluous detail.

12rabbitprincess
Sep 8, 2018, 12:41 pm

Just started A Kiss Before Dying, by Ira Levin.

13Bookmarque
Sep 8, 2018, 2:40 pm

OOOOHHH! A Kiss Before Dying is awesome!!!

14Raspberrymocha
Sep 8, 2018, 4:41 pm

Started The Job by Evanovich and Goldberg.

15Mary_Ann_Janicki
Sep 8, 2018, 7:45 pm

Leverage in Death by JD Robb. Just love the series

16Lynxear
Sep 10, 2018, 11:44 am

I just finished reading 9 Dragons by Michael Connelly. I am getting less and less enamored with the Bosch story line. Connelly seems to be falling in a Lee Child syndrome where the hero is unkillable and solves the crime/mystery through brute force.... ignoring partners.... often getting them killed in the process of getting the job done... if he runs out of ideas a clue vague as it may be pops up and he is always right or it he is wrong...kills someone in the process or someone is unnecessarily killed. But he is a teflon man... he doesn't care as long as the overall objective is reached. Oh he sheds a tear sometimes for sympathy but you know he would do it again and he does.

I think this last book is the last one for me in this series. I would read another Micky Haller book if it comes around but I am Bosched out right now.... and I am tired of reading about police corruption and the ineptitude of the FBI... in "9 Dragons" even going to Hong Kong does not slow him down...he just blasts it through all obstacles in his way.

17ted74ca
Sep 10, 2018, 1:36 pm

I always love Ann Cleeves' books. I just finished The Seagull from her Vera Stanhope series this morning.

18rabbitprincess
Sep 10, 2018, 10:25 pm

>13 Bookmarque: I agree; it was really well done!

Next up in crime reading is The Shadow Killer, by Arnaldur Indriðason (translated by Victoria Cribb).

19seitherin
Sep 11, 2018, 3:32 pm

Finished The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. Not bad for a juvenile mystery.

20Raspberrymocha
Sep 11, 2018, 5:04 pm

The Job by Evanovich and Goldberg
#3 A Fox and O’Hare Novel
4⭐️

Kate O’Hare is one of the top FBI agents, reknown for the capture of Nick Fox, an international thief. Kate is responsible for keeping Nick out of trouble, as well as using him as a sometimes partner to capture very high profile criminals. Someone is trying to sloppily frame Nick. The framing leads to a sting operation on one of the world’s biggest, richest and most violent drug lords.The sting takes Kate to Istanbul, Lisbon, and London. Stolen art, a possible shipwreck of gold, and assassins keep Kate and Nick on their toes. This is the first time I’ve read a book from this series. It stood up well, despite being read out of order. I enjoyed the witty and often sarcastic exchange between the characters. It was also very fast paced, which is something I want in a book. I will be reading more of these.

21rabbitprincess
Sep 11, 2018, 6:48 pm

Yeeee! Finally starting The Deepest Grave, by Harry Bingham. I love Fiona Griffiths and am glad that I got my mum hooked on the series too :D

22ted74ca
Sep 11, 2018, 9:51 pm

Took a while to get into this one, but I ended up really enjoying it: The Day She Disappeared by Christobel Kent

23Raspberrymocha
Sep 11, 2018, 10:42 pm

Just started The Columbus Affair by Steve Berry. It’s a stand alone.

24Molly3028
Sep 12, 2018, 5:08 pm

Enjoying this library audiobook ~

The Wife: A Novel of Psychological Suspense by Alafair Burke
(Jason and Angela/scandals and secrets)

25Dr_Flanders
Sep 13, 2018, 3:29 pm

>16 Lynxear: I felt the same way about 9 Dragons. I disliked the book and felt pretty disappointed about it, mostly because I had enjoyed the earlier books so much. I felt like Bosch completely jumped the shark on that one. For what it is worth, I think the series came back down to earth a bit in later novels. There are a few, including the most recent one, that I enjoyed (though not as much as the first 8 or 10 novels. The later novels have mostly stuck to the L.A. area and have presented solid police procedural type plots. I'm glad I kept reading, and the Bosch/Haller distinction becomes pretty blurred because they seem to both appear in most of the novels that either is in at this point.

I just wanted to say that you aren't alone in your feeling about 9 Dragons. I thought about quitting Bosch on that one too.

>12 rabbitprincess: I loved A Kiss Before Dying. Rosemary's Baby is great as well, in a different way. I keep meaning to read more Ira Levin, but I haven't yet.

26Raspberrymocha
Sep 17, 2018, 8:27 pm

Dark in Death by J.D. Robb
#46 In Death series
4 1/2 ⭐️

A young actress is killed with an ice pick at the vid theater during the shower death in the Hitchcock movie Psycho. Lt Eve Dallas of the NYPSD Homicide Department is called in. A suspect is seen, but no one can identify the person. Then Nadine, a reporter friend of Dallas, brings in an author friend who might have insights into the murder. The murder seems to following a series of novels written by said author. Dallas does some searching and there indeed, is a previous unsolved murder that mimicked the first book of the Dark series. Dallas and her partner Det. Peabody have to move quickly as there were 6 more novels, and therefore 6 more possible murders in the offing. After some serious police work, a link is found between a fan/writer who feels that the author stole his/her ideas. The action requires all hands on deck during the icy cold wintry mid February in NYC. The next possible victim appears to be a “skank” girlfriend of a local rock musician, causing Dallas and Peabody to explore the dark drug, sex and rock and roll lives of possible new victims. This was a fast moving story. A bit different from the usual Eve Dallas In Death series as it evolves around another series of books.

27Molly3028
Modifié : Sep 19, 2018, 12:17 pm

Enjoying this OverDrive audiobook ~

Spider Woman's Daughter (Leaphorn and Chee) by Anne Hillerman

(Native American series ~ tribal sleuths/Navajo Nation/Anne apparently picked up where her father left off over a decade ago)

28Raspberrymocha
Sep 18, 2018, 11:13 am

The Heist by Evanovich and Goldberg
#1 Fox and O’Hare Mystery
4 ⭐️

Kate O’Hare is a former Navy Seal, now an FBI agent. Her father is a retired military and retired covert ops agent for (possibly) the CIA. Nick Fox is a their, a charming high end grifter, and Kate is hunting him down. She finally nabs him during a jewelry heist. However, Nick escapes from a US Marshall and is a fugitive. But, Kate’s bosses intervene, and now Nick is helping Kate to take down criminals who are outside the legal means of being arrested. Kate is also responsible for Nick as his handler, trying to keep him out of trouble. Kate and Nick’s first operation as a team is to find a man who embezzled $500 million. To that end, Nick hires Willie, a woman who can drive anything, Boyd, an actor, Tom, a treehouse builder, and Chet, a makeup and special effects man. Together they face kidnapping, piracy on the open ocean and mixing with the extremely wealthy, while running a scam to capture the embezzler without ending up in prison or death. It is a fun action packed thrill ride, especially when Willie is driving. Snarky fun dialogue, quick wit and non-stop escapades kept me turning the pages.

29jwrudn
Sep 18, 2018, 9:05 pm

Finished Desolation Mountain. I found the ending a little unsatisfying but another quality entry in William Kent Krueger's Cork O'Connor series. Enjoying The Banker's Wife by Cristina Alger. A good international thriller that lives up to the favorable reviews.

30rabbitprincess
Sep 19, 2018, 4:38 am

>25 Dr_Flanders: I'll have to try more of his work! I may be too much of a wimp to read Rosemary's Baby, but perhaps if I read it only in daylight...

****

Just finished 47 Sorrows, the third book in the Thaddeus Lewis series by Janet Kellough. It was OK but it is doubtful I'll read the others.

31flips
Sep 19, 2018, 7:31 am

I have almost finished The Dry by Jane Harper. It's really good.

32rabbitprincess
Sep 19, 2018, 1:45 pm

Started Death-Watch, by John Dickson Carr.

33sundance
Sep 19, 2018, 4:18 pm

Finished The Mitford Murders by Jessica Fellowes. That got me interested in the Mitford family as I remember Jessica Mitford was a friend of my parents. So I tackled the 500+ pages of Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family and found it fascinating. Now I've started The Knowledge by Martha Grimes. I always enjoy spending time with Richard Jury, Scotland Yard Detective Superintendent, and all his very fun friends as they solve mysteries.

34ted74ca
Sep 20, 2018, 12:28 am

MacBeth by Jo Nesbo. Not one of his Harry Hole series, but excellent nonetheless.

35ted74ca
Sep 20, 2018, 6:07 pm

I really liked this suspense/mystery/coming of age novel: The Chalk Man by C. J. Tudor

36leslie.98
Sep 20, 2018, 8:16 pm

I finished my reread of the 4th Philip Marlowe book, The Lady in the Lake. Not one of the best in the series imo but the book is much more comprehensible than the movie version (something I find true of many of the books based on Chandler & Hammett).

37Raspberrymocha
Sep 20, 2018, 9:23 pm

The Columbus Affair by Steve Berry
4 ⭐️

This is a stand alone novel by Steve Berry, which explores the legend of Christopher Columbus and Jaimaca. Thomas Sagan is a disgraced Pulitzer Prize winning reporter who is at the end of his rope. Then his estranged daughter Alle is kidnapped. The kidnapper, a Jewish fanatic, wants what was buried with Tom’s father. Tom’s father was a Levite who went to his grave guarding a secret that had been passed down father to son for 500 years. On Jamaica a wealthy Maroon is loosely teamed with the kidnapper. The Maroon wants to find a supposed gold mine possibly hidden by Columbus. The kidnapper wants to find treasures from the Temple of Solomon. However, Tom holds the clue. Action runs from Jamaica, to Austria, to Florida, to the Czech Republic and back to Jamaica. The first hundred pages or so are rather tedious and somewhat confusing. However, once the search for clues begins, there is nonstop action, twists, and turns. A quick read once one has slogged through the beginning chapters.

38Molly3028
Modifié : Sep 22, 2018, 10:07 am

Enjoying this borrowed OverDrive Kindle eBook ~

Aunt Dimity and the Wishing Well by Nancy Atherton

(cozy supernatural mystery series/English countryside/is a wishing well actually granting the wishes of the townsfolk?/I'm having Alexa read this to me with her British accent!)

39JFHilborne
Modifié : Sep 21, 2018, 5:06 pm

Ce message a été supprimé par son auteur

40JFHilborne
Modifié : Sep 21, 2018, 5:22 pm

Reading https://www.librarything.com/work/17124569 by Sarah Pinborough

Labeled YA (probably due to age of characters). Bought for me as a gift and not my usual type of mystery; however, I'm enjoying it.

Sorry, I don't know how to make the touchstone work (title is 13 Minutes).

41leslie.98
Sep 21, 2018, 7:04 pm

I am reading Force of Nature; I liked Harper's first book, The Dry.

42jwrudn
Modifié : Sep 21, 2018, 9:19 pm

43Molly3028
Modifié : Sep 22, 2018, 1:21 pm

>40 JFHilborne:

Touchstones

Use a bracket before and after whatever appears (title, etc.) in the LibraryThing page for the book ~ exclude "by" and the author's name. If the link to the wrong book appears, click on (others) to find the correct author in the list provided ~ click on the "+" sign when you find it.

13 Minutes by Sarah Pinborough

I hope this helps.

44seitherin
Sep 22, 2018, 2:23 pm

>40 JFHilborne: >43 Molly3028: And double bracket the author's name to make it a touchstone. 13 Minutes by Sarah Pinborough.

45ted74ca
Sep 22, 2018, 4:56 pm

I really liked this "domestic" thriller: The House Swap by Rebecca Fleet.

46seitherin
Sep 23, 2018, 1:59 pm

About to start Lethal White by Robert Galbraith.

47leslie.98
Sep 23, 2018, 3:16 pm

I have started Epitaph for a Spy by Eric Ambler.

48Molly3028
Sep 24, 2018, 1:13 pm

Enjoying this library audiobook ~

The Bookshop of Yesterdays by Amy Meyerson

(LA bookstore inheritance/scavenger hunt mystery ~ family secrets/literary references)

49Raspberrymocha
Sep 24, 2018, 6:58 pm

Catering to Nobody by Diane Mott Davidson
#1 A Culinary (Goldy Bear) Mystery
3 1/2 ⭐️

Goldy (Gertrude) Bear is a caterer, who sometimes cleans houses. She can’t rely on child support from her abusive ex John Richard Korean, aka the Jerk. The Jerk is an OBgyn docter in a practice with his father Fritz. Goldy’s son Arch is having a rough time at school and with his parents divorce. To make things worse, his favorite teacher recently committed suicide. Arch helps Goldy cater events. While catering Miss Smiley’s wake, someone sneaked rat poison into Fritz’s coffee. Goldy’s catering was shut down by Investgator Schulz. She desperately needs to clear herself, as bills won’t pay themselves. In the process of snooping around with her best friend MRla, who is the Jerk’s second ex, she finds dark secrets from her ex’s parents past that are part of the police investigation headed by Schulz. To top it off, Tom Schulz seems interested in Goldy as more than just a suspect in attempted murder of Fritz. Being the first of the series, the author overloads the reader with back stories and a large cast of local Aspen Meadow, Colorado characters. Thus the story bogs down at times. However, it reaches a fairly satisfying conclusion, after a series of twists and turns.

50Raspberrymocha
Sep 25, 2018, 8:50 pm

Town Haunts by Cathy Spencer
#2 An Anna Nolan Mystery
3 ⭐️

This is book #2 of the Anna Nolan Mysteries. Anna lives in the small town of Crane, Alberta, Canada. It’s the week after Thanksgiving and Halloween is on the way. Sister and brother Tierney and Greg move into town. She runs a new age shop and gives massage therapy. She’s taken over Henry’s restaurant building and he is furious. Sherman, a former banker, now cemetary caretaker is spooked by the voice of his deceased wife, calling him from the cemetary. Anna and her friends May and Erna decide that a seance is in order to bring Sherman some peace of mind, even a fake seance. They enlist Tierney’s help, as Tierney is also a self proclaimed witch. However, instead of calming Sherman, the seance Hs the opposite effect. It throws the town into turmoil. Sightings of ghosts, accidents in the cemetary, ghostly threats create mayhem in the Little town. And if that isn’t enough, someone is passing counterfeit money at the grocery and other stores. Anna’s long distance RCMP boyfriend is busy on a job in Calgary. So, Tierney’s brother starts hitting on Anna, and Anna isn’t happy about it. The story is very slow in the first half. I kept having to put the book down and read something else. However, the pace increased in the second and more interesting half. The characters are rather cardboard as is the dialogue, especially in the first half. It finished with a satisfying ending.

51Copperskye
Sep 25, 2018, 11:19 pm

I’m loving Ann Cleeves’ latest Shetland Book, Wild Fire but I’m sad that it’s the last of the Jimmy Perez books. I’ll hate to have it end!

52Dr_Flanders
Sep 28, 2018, 1:46 pm

I just finished Depth of Winter by Craig Johnson. Let me first say that I am a fan of the Longmire series and of Craig Johnson. I have enjoyed this series a great deal. This book felt like a big disappointment to me. Let me also say that I don't usually so for the popcorn action flick type of thriller novels, especially in a long running series. I just have trouble taking it seriously after a point, once the protagonist has demonstrated the ability to get out of any possible situation, no matter the odds. I am not knocking people who do enjoy this kind of thing, it just isn't my thing.

There has always been a bit of that in the Longmire books, but it was always balanced with interesting characters, and a great sense of place. This book took the main character completely out of that setting, and away from nearly all the supporting characters that populate Johnson's stories. Instead we get Walt in Mexico, on a mission to rescue his daughter from a drug kingpin who has a vendetta against him. There are a few interesting characters along the way, but nothing gets in the way of the numerous shootouts and explosions. In some ways, I think this book felt like Johnson's answer to Michael Connelly's 9 Dragons, which sees an aging protagonist travel to Japan to rescue his ex-wife and fight dozens of Yakuza, or something like that. The point being, that was my least favorite Harry Bosch novel, because it felt less thoughtful and more like an action movie. Both books made me feel like the series had jumped the shark.

That being said, I'll probably pick up the next Longmire book. Mr. Johnson has built up enough goodwill with me to get past what I felt was one bad novel. I'm hoping that resolving a major, multi-book cliffhanger might allow Longmire to get back to basics, and maybe allow Johnson to tell a story on a smaller scale, which is where I think he shines most.

53Bookmarque
Sep 28, 2018, 2:46 pm

Just started Grist Mill Road and while the opening scene was pretty brutal, it has surprised me already and seems well written so far.

54rabbitprincess
Sep 28, 2018, 7:15 pm

Getting ready to re-read Mrs. Pollifax Pursued, by Dorothy Gilman.

55ted74ca
Modifié : Sep 29, 2018, 8:03 pm

A "literary" ghost story: Lost Girls by Andrew Pyper

56rabbitprincess
Sep 29, 2018, 8:19 pm

Finished re-reading Mrs. Pollifax Pursued, and started AND finished Glass Houses, by Louise Penny. I couldn't put it down!

57Copperskye
Sep 29, 2018, 8:33 pm

Just finished Ann Cleeves’ final Shetland Book, Wild Fire. I loved it! But sad to see the series end. :(

58seitherin
Oct 1, 2018, 8:48 am